GRAIN, CATTLE, HOG, & MILK BFP FUTURES MARKETS Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange Closing Bids: Thursday, October 17. 2002 Com 10/16/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 *CASH* DEC 02 MAR 03 MAY 03 JUL 03 SEP 03 DEC 03 MAR 04 MAY 04 10/17/02 10/17/02 JUL DEC Total 10/16/02 Soybeans 10/16/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 *CASH* NOV 02 JAN 03 MAR 03 MAY 03 JUL 03 AUG 03 SEP 03 NOV 03 JAN 04 NOV 04 Total 10/16/02 Soybean Meal *CASH* DEC 02 JAN 03 MAR 03 MAY 03 JUL 03 AUG 03 SEP 03 OCT 03 DEC 03 JAN 04 DEC 04 10/16/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 Total 10/16/02 Oct. 14,2002 RETAIL DAIRY PRICES RELATIVELY HIGH • Cheese, ice cream prices above year ago. • Whole milk, butter down some. • Milk ingredient costs down 30-40 percent. Dairy farmers are noticing that retail prices for many dairy prod High 2612 2594 2650 2672 2672 2570 2482 2530 2522 Open 2512 2582 2610 2624 2536 2446 2504 2522 2524 2344 2524 2340 Volume Qpen_lnt 88231 479910 High 5265 5540 5560 5570 5554 5550 5490 5320 5156 5150 4920 Open 5434 5470 5500 5500 5490 5420 5320 5100 5150 4920 Volume Qpen_lnt 57950 208085 High 17100 1730 1735 1738 1733 1730 1715 1680 1605 1625 1610 1600 Open 1697 1708 1715 1712 1710 1695 1660 1605 1610 1610 1600 Volume Qpen_lnt 21865 129467 ucts have not fallen nearly as much as their milk checks. In fact, some dairy products such as cheese and ice cream are actually higher than a year ago. I have often been asked to ex plain this and have for the most part avoided it. Here’s why. First, many dairy farmers did not go back into the grocery stores last year to compare retail prices. Ice Last 2612 2554 2610 2634 2626 2532 2460 2514 2522 Low 2612 2504 2570 2600 2600 2530 2440 2504 2522 2522 2340 2522 2340 Last 5265 5506 5526 5536 5532 5520 5464 5300 5134 5150 4920 LOW 5265 5432 5464 5480 5484 5480 5420 5300 5094 5150 4920 Last 17100 1713 1722 1727 1720 1720 1701 1672 1605 1611 1610 1600 LOW 17100 1691 1701 1709 1706 1707 1695 1660 1605 1610 1610 1600 cream, for example, went up in price, but not nearly as high as butterfat prices. Remember $2.44-per-pound butterfat prices? Many ice cream processors saw their margins squeezed because they could not fully pass along all of their costs. Retail milk prices have fol lowed a pattern over the years. They haven’t always gone up as high as the increase in raw milk costs (Class I prices) when milk prices are rising, and they don’t go down as fast either when milk prices are plummeting. That may be because consumers don’t like big swings in their milk prices (neither do farmers). Another reason why I haven’t focused on retail milk prices is because the year-to-year changes in those prices have often been at or below the rate of inflation. And besides, we live in a country with a capitalist economy. Pro cessors and retailers can sell their products (fanners don’t own it at Lean Hogs Date 10/16/02 *CASH* 10/17/02 Dec 02 10/17/02 Feb 03 10/17/02 Apr 03 10/17/02 May 03 10/17/02 Jun 03 10/17/02 Jul 03 10/17/02 Aug 03 10/17/02 Oct 03 10/17/02 Dec 03 Chge -6 +22 +6 +2 -12 -6 +2 +2 +2 Composite Volume Open_lnt 10/16/02 ' 5480 35378 Live Cattle Date 10/16/02 *CASH* 0 630063006300 unch 10/17/02 Oct 02 6880 688068406845 -40 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 digs unch +36 +2O + 14 +l6 Composite Volume Open_lnt 10/16/02 14209 112469 + 6 + 14 +2O +22 +2O +2O Pork Bellies Date 10/16/02 *CASH* 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 Chge -50 + 12 + 10 + 8 + 5 + 5 + 1 + 2 -5 + 1 +2 unch Composite Volume Open_lnt 10/16/02 235 1242 Oats 10/16/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 10/17/02 Total 10/16/02 ~ ¥w . . ¥ ¥ Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge ~ , , . r & Volume Openjmt 0 0 4150 23981 1162 5401 94 1474 15 742 49 1253 6 310 3 194 1 29 0 0 0 455245524552 +7B 4155 421041204165 -52 4745 483547404797 unch 5065 516250655115 -10 5815 583057905820 +5 6060 610560606087 unch 5880 590058355890 +8 5650 569056505650 +8 5175520051755195 +25 5000 500050005000 unch u* u¥ i Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Vo|tlmeopen lnt 0 0 3019 6047 Dec 02 7175 717771357137 Feb 03 7335 734273157320 Apr 03 7370737073457367 Jun 03 6935 693569056920 Aug 03 6905 692268956922 Oct 03 7000 701069907010 ~ ¥ w. . T , Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Volume open lnt 0 0 0 810081008100 unch Feb 03 7450 745073207362 Mar 03 7320 735072977297 May 03 7500 750074407440 Jul 03 7400 740073757375 Aug 03 7365 736572707270 Open *CASH* DEC 02 MAR 03 MAY 03 JUL 03 SEP 03 DEC'O3 MAR 04 1972 1960 1940 1800 1610 1600 1600 Volume Open_lnt 1802 9228 this point) at whatever price they can get away with. They just have to make their customers happy. But not everyone is happy at the moment. Dairy farmers are facing three crushing blows: 1) low milk prices, 2) rising feed costs, and 3) drought conditions that have limited their feed pro duction. Also not happy are consumers. They are facing a tough economy right now and are worried about their economic futures. In addi tion, they are paying more for milk and dairy products than the ingredient costs would suggest. For example, during the period June-August 2002, retail prices for ice cream and natural cheese rose 1.4 and 6.7 percent, respec tively. That is a modest increase in retail prices for ice cream, until you consider two things. First, ice cream prices last year were ex- (Tum to Page A 29) -123 -138 -160 -145 -130 High 2122 2010 1990 1940 1800 1610 1600 1600 LOW 2122 1970 1950 1940 1800 1610 1600 1600 Average Farm Feed Costs for Handy Reference To help farmers across the state to have handy reference of commodity input costs in their feeding operations for DHIA record sheets or to develop live stock feed cost data, here’s last week’s average costs of various ingredients as compiled from regional reports across the state of Pennsylvania. Remember, these are averages, so you will need to adjust your figures up or down according to your location and the quality of your crop. Com, No.2y 3.05 bu., 5.46 cwt. Wheat, N 0.2 3.79 bu., 6.33 cwt. Barley, N 0.3 —l.BB bu., 4.02 cwt. Oats, N 0.2 —1.84 bu., 5.75 cwt. Soybeans, No.l 5.42 bu., 9.06 cwt. Ear Com 76.76 ton, 3.84 cwt. Alfalfa Hay 142.50 ton, 7.13 cwt. Mixed Hay 146.25 ton, 7.31 cwt. Timothy Hay 128.75 ton, 6.44 cwt. 55267 25090 15574 9212 1201 78 5804 2765 1510 692 419 1149 56 ■ 19 13 208 15 10 Chge -50 -4 -14 -14 -40 -20 + 10 unch Last 2122 1972 1950 1940 1800 1610 1600 1600
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers